The Curse That Saved Me
by she-never-missed
Summary: "Through the dizziness, I was thrilled that my love wasn't just an effect of dark magic. Somehow, I'd managed to fall in love through the curse." Sometimes there's love strong enough to make it through even the darkest magic.


**This was written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition with the prompt to write a fluff involving the Imperius Curse, and the addition prompts of the words 'difficult' and 'transformation', and the picture being used of the rough waves. Any thoughts or comments would be beyond fabulous. Cheers~**

I was under the Imperius Curse when I met him, and despite the evil nature of the spell, I can't say I'm upset that it happened. I don't even know who cast the spell, but whoever it was let me think properly, so long as I reported back to the Dark Lord. I could think, and I could see. I knew what I was doing, and that the peace I felt was just an illusion. It was as if the whole world was a raging ocean, and I sat protected in a bubble of calm, just watching the storm. I worked in the Ministry, and I was dropping off files at my desk the first time I saw him. He was tall, with dark haired and blue eyed, chiselled features and an ever-present smile. He grinned at me, and under instructions to blend in and act normal, I smiled back.

When I went in to report the next day, I mentioned him. The Dark Lord told me his name was Lucas Brinter, and that he was high up in the Ministry, and after much consideration, told me that it could be beneficial to get close to him. So I did.

Over the next while, I talked to Lucas more and more, and realized that the curse aside, I wanted to spend time with him. He was funny and kind, the type to lend you his jacket just because he knew it was sweet, rather than conjuring me one of my own. We grew closer and closer, but the Imperius curse kept me reporting on his every move, right up until the legendary Battle of Hogwarts.

It was obvious when the curse was broken. The fuzzy haze that had been surrounding me for weeks suddenly vanished. It was like waking up from a long, blurry dream. The transformation left me breathless, like a puppet with my strings cut, trying to stand on my own in the first time in forever. It was as if my quiet bubble of peace had just disintegrated, and I was dropped back into the real world. I stumbled, but caught myself before I could fall, clinging to the wall beside me. My own willpower was flooding back to me, but through it all, one thing stayed the same. There was a longing in my heart and butterflies in my stomach every time I thought of him. Through the dizziness, I was thrilled that my love wasn't just an effect of dark magic. Somehow, I'd managed to fall in love through the curse.

I met him at a muggle coffee shop in London, seeing as the Ministry had practically fallen apart. People watched him as he walked in, girls whispered and nudged each other as he passed them, and I might have been bothered on a different day, but today, it was the least of my problems. Besides, his eyes stayed on me the entire time, smiling when my gaze met his.

It was difficult, thinking of a way to phrase what had happened to me. If he didn't understand that the girl who fell in love with him, the girl he fell in love with, was the same as who I was now, the two of us didn't have a chance. I needed him to know that everything I said was real.

"Did you know that people can still think for themselves under the Imperius Curse?" I asked him as he sat down, "As long as you do what you're supposed to, you can keep your thoughts. If the caster of your spell lets you, you can remember who you care about. You can even fall in love."

His eyes widened, "You're not talking about yourself," he said, and it wasn't even a question. It was a statement that he wanted so badly to be true, but I shook my head.

"I am," I said, "I wish that I weren't, but I am."

"But you still love me? And the girl I fell in love with, that's still you?" The hope in his eyes was infectious, and I felt myself smiling, in spite of everything.

"Yes," I breathed, "And yes. It's all true, it's all the same. I could still think, I could still _love. _In a way, it's a miracle that things happened the way they did. Without this curse, we may never have found each other."

My transparency must have given him comfort, because I saw it in his eyes that he believed me. I felt relief simultaneously washing through the both of us. I was okay. _We_ were okay. We were going to make it. The war was over, the curse was lifted. I told him, and he still loved me.

Later that night, the two of us sat back in his apartment, wrapped in blankets and watching Christmas movies, despite it being early May. I didn't mind.

I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck, and he tightened his arm around me, "You're really you," he whispered into my hair, and I giggled.

"I am," I said, "And I've never been so happy to be me in my life."

"Good," he said, laying his head against mine, "And I'm glad we're done with that stupid curse."

I smiled, "I don't know," I said, "Without 'that stupid curse', I may not even have talked to you."

"Very true," wrapping me tighter in his arms and the blankets, "Without 'that stupid curse', I might not have gotten to know the most beautiful girl in the world. Without 'that stupid curse', I might have been sitting alone tonight, watching Christmas reruns all by myself. Dare I say, 'that stupid curse', quite possibly saved me."


End file.
